Tuesday, December 31, 2013

31 December 1939 - Spain's Mighty Sansón

On 31 December 1939, Celta de Vigo defender Sansón became the youngest player in Spanish league history when he debuted against Sevilla.

Francisco Baos Rodríguez, nicknamed "Sansón" because of his strength, was in his first season with Celta and was 15 years, 8 months, and 11 days old when manager Ricardo Comesaña gave him his first call-up to the first team for their away match at Sevilla to close out the year. It was a good start for Sansón, as Celta won 4-1, but he was unable to make it last, with only five other league appearances before leaving the team in 1941.

Sansón later made a greater impact with Oviedo, with 115 appearances between 1945 and 1950, then returned to Celta, where he played in another 40 league matches in four seasons. He spent his last season with Xerez, then retired in 1956.